


Live Without Your Sunlight

by oneunexpected



Category: The Underland Chronicles - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Gen, One Shot, no beta we die like men, wrote this from midnight to four.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:49:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25970869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oneunexpected/pseuds/oneunexpected
Summary: What happened to Luxa, Aurora, Temp, Boots, and Twitchtip after being separated from the rest of their party in the Prophecy of Bane. Luxa's lost her only source of light, making survival—and keeping hope—all the more difficult. Luxa's POV. For Day One: Darkness of the Underland Chronicles Fandom Week 2020.
Relationships: Luxa & Aurora, Luxa & Boots, Luxa & Twitchtip
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4
Collections: TUC Week, TUC Week 2020





	Live Without Your Sunlight

It was dark in the small cave where she floated.

The light Gregor had bound to Luxa’s arm went out when she hit the water—like fire would, she supposed—but Boots’ much smaller light had stayed on, and Luxa had turned it off after using it to look around, knowing it had to be conserved for whatever laid ahead.

So it was dark in the small cave, and quiet, too, as she clung to Boots in the cold waters. When the serpents attacked, Twitchtip had told them to dive for this cave, which was nearly flooded even as Aurora banked into it. Boots, clinging to Luxa’s back, had bumped her head on the top of the cavern’s entrance in the process, knocking the little girl out. It had frightened Luxa immensely when she realized Boots was unconscious, but the toddler’s pulse was strong and her breaths were steady, so she was optimistic.

It had been fifteen minutes or so since they had crashed into the water, and they had exhausted any possibilities for escape in the first five. They had considered trying to dive and go out the way they came, and Luxa thought she could have managed with Boots, and perhaps Aurora could have made it, but Temp could not dive, and with his floating orange vest, she doubted Aurora could carry him in her claws without her grip slipping and him bobbing back up to the surface. It was probably for the best. They did not know what would be waiting on the other side, be it serpents or gnawers.

Boots began to stir against her chest. She called out weakly: “Ge-go?”

“No, Boots,” Luxa replied quietly, “It is I, Luxa.”

A pause. “We go swim?”

Luxa sighed. “Yes. We are going for a swim. And we must wait to see Gregor for a little while.”

“Dark,” Boots mused. “Nighttime?”

“Yes, Boots, it is nighttime. Try to rest,” Luxa soothed, smoothing a hand over the child’s curls.

Boots snuggled in closer to Luxa and grumbled, “Too code.” _Cold._ It _was_ too cold. Luxa tried to hold Boots as high as she could and wondered if they would die from the frigid waters before the water receded. Well, Temp would make it, she supposed.

Boots was quiet for all of thirty seconds. “We get out now?”

Luxa tittered in spite of herself. “No, Boots, we must wait longer. This is like…” Gregor always had some sort of weird analogy of life in the Overland to explain dangerous situations to his little sister. Luxa racked her brain for something usable from when he told her about life in New York City the day before, but came up with nothing. Luckily, she knew some experiences were universal. “This is like when you are ready to leave the bath, but your mama says you must still be rinsed off. So, we must wait in the water, even though it has grown cold. Perhaps you could teach me the song Howard taught you? About your toes?” She knew the song about the toes, of course, every other human in the Underland had been taught it as a child, but she figured distracting Boots was a better option than the toddler gradually losing patience and throwing a tantrum.

For a while, that was enough to keep Boots entertained, singing a verse to Luxa with her own modified lyrics and having her sing it back. When Boots got bored of that, she asked Luxa to teach her another rhyme, so Luxa spent the next half hour teaching Boots the nursery rhymes that she had grown up with. It was almost fun, despite the circumstances, despite the fact Boots was off-key and couldn’t keep the words straight. Eventually, the toddler gave a big yawn and leaned her head against Luxa’s shoulder. “Keep singing.”

Luxa felt herself blush, which made her feel ridiculous, considering her audience was a two-year-old, her bond, and a crawler. But she was quite self-conscious of her singing voice. Nursery rhymes were one thing, but lullabies were another thing entirely. Doing a gymnastics routine? Effortless. Ball games in front of all of Regalia? No issue. Perform the Coiler? She would not balk. But ask Luxa to sing in anything other than a full choir, and the young queen would clam up.

In spite of that, she found herself softly singing the tunes her nannies had once sung to her, and soon, Boots was asleep.

"Sing well, the queen does, sing well," Temp said a few minutes after Luxa had stopped.

The compliment made her face feel hot. She thanked him quietly, and then, all was quiet.

Without Boots to distract her, the reality of their situation returned. She was trapped in a small cave, deep in enemy territory, shut away from any chance of escape, her dear friends possibly dead in the Tankard. They had no food, nothing to drink, just freezing cold saltwater. And no light to spare.

Luxa shut her eyes and tried to still a shuddering breath. She had spent years thinking about all the ways in which she could die, woke up every day telling herself it would be her last, but she had never fathomed it would be like this, trapped, helpless. Out of all the ways to go, this would be her last choice.

She opened her eyes. It didn’t matter. It looked just the same. She wondered why this water wasn’t luminescent like the rest of the Waterway. Or maybe there had to be a greater volume of it than what was in the cave in order for the effect to be noticed. “Aurora,” she whispered, as not to wake Boots, “the water, does it recede?”

“Yes. Slowly, but certainly,” the flier murmured back.

Luxa asked, “How long? Can you tell?”

“Another hour or two, perhaps. I cannot tell with any certainty.” Then it was silent again. Minutes ticked by, and to Luxa, they felt like hours.

“Temp, this reminds me much of when you carried me through the Dead Land,” Aurora said after an indeterminate amount of time. Luxa had seen their arrangement when she had at the cave with Boots' flashlight; Aurora was clinging to the crawler’s back, her wings folded in as tight as possible.

“Survive that, we did, survive that; survive this, we will, survive this,” Temp replied.

Luxa willed herself to believe it, but the darkness pressed in relentlessly. She needed light, she needed to know the rest of their party was okay, she needed out of that prison of a cave. She found herself slipping into some sort of stupor, bogged down by the cold, by the gentle sound of lapping water, by her own dark thoughts.

Some time later, Aurora broke the silence. “The water has lowered to the mouth of the cave. I believe we can fly now. Luxa, you will swim under and out with Boots, and I with Temp. Then, I will be able to fly.”

“Boots, Boots,” Luxa said, shaking the child gently, “Are you ready to get out of the water?”

“Ye-es!” Boots exclaimed through a yawn.

“Good. I, as well. But you must hold your breath when I tell you to, do you understand?” Luxa reached down to Boots’ arm and turned on her flashlight, then pointed the beam around the edge of the pool until she saw it: a small opening beginning to form where they had dove in. She swam towards it, and upon reaching the wall, plugged Boots’ nose, and dove.

When she surfaced, she found she could see again. It was barely enough, but the light from the water allowed her to get a vague sense of her surroundings. She turned around to see Temp bob up behind her, apparently shoved under by Aurora, who followed a moment later. From there, it was easy enough to load up on Aurora’s back.

“The gnawers are all gone,” Reported Aurora as she took to the air, “except for one. One sits nearby in the mouth of a tunnel. I believe it to be Twitchtip.”

Luxa nodded. “Good. Aim for that one.”

Luxa shined Boots’ flashlight towards the tunnel’s mouth, once they were close enough, and found Twitchtip, bloodied and bandaged, staring back up to them.

“You’re a sight for sore eyes,” the gnawer said as they came in for a landing.

“You, as well. Where are the others?” Luxa asked.

“Mareth, Howard, and Andromeda are heading back to Regalia as we speak. Mareth was severely injured in the serpent attack.”

“I see you were not spared, either,” Luxa replied, gesturing to Twitchtip’s bedraggled state.

“Believe me, I am better off than he was,” Twitchtip said darkly. “The Overlander and his bond are looking for the Bane. I led them as far as I could, I rested for a while, and then I crawled back here. I hope they’ve found him by now.” She paused. “They think you’re dead, all four of you. As you can imagine, they were all in pretty horrible spirits.”

Luxa wondered what Howard would tell the Regalians. That she was dead and the next in line needed to be decided? That they needed to send out a search party for her? Could they even _risk_ Regalian soldiers coming back for her? No, probably not. So instead she thought of Gregor and instinctively turned to Boots, who was already playing some game with Temp behind her. _Die the baby..._

She had to get the child back to Regalia.

“Twitchtip, do you know how to get out of here?” Luxa asked.

Twitchtip sighed. “I don’t, to be completely honest. My nose is just about useless, now. But I have been catching a few whiffs. I think I can send you the right direction, though.”

Luxa studied the gnawer for a moment. She hardly looked like she could take another step, but she replied, “Then we should set out.”

It was slow going. Twitchtip was in no state to travel, but she did remarkably well as she led them down the serpentine tunnels. With the light off once more, Luxa found herself putting more trust in the rat with every step she took. “This is not the way I sent the Overlander. I had caught a flash of white deep in the Labyrinth before my nose got crushed, but in the other direction, a pretty distinct smell of plant life. I believe this path will lead you to the jungle,” Twitchtip panted as they walked along. When they passed another tunnel entrance, Twitchtip said, “Toss those orange vests down a ways in there. They might follow that scent instead of us if they pass by, or at least it’ll give them pause.” Luxa helped Temp and Boots out of their vests, hopped on Aurora’s back, and deposited them deep in the other tunnel before returning. They had continued through the dark for another hour or so when Twitchtip broke the silence.

"I used to live around here, for a short time. I wish I could remember more... I just never had need to memorize landmarks when my nose worked. But some of this looks familiar from time to time. Perhaps, I could bring us back to my old nest. There is a river with plenty of fish. It would give you some time." She paused. "But I don't know how to get back to it."

"We will out our faith in your judgement," Luxa replied, not trying to sound too begrudging. She had grown to respect Twitchtip immensely, but still, it was hard for her to put all of her confidence in the word of a rat.

In another half hour, they slowed. Boots’ flashlight revealed they had arrived at a small cavern where the paths forked into two different tunnels, both too small for Aurora to fly into. “I do not know the way,” Twitchtip wheezed. “I’m sorry.”

“You have done an incredible feat to have led us this far at all,” Luxa said.

Aurora’s head suddenly snapped up.

“How many?” Twitchtip asked, her nose twitching beneath its bandages. “...Nine?”

“Twelve,” Aurora responded, prompting Twitchtip to curse, though whether at the size of the pack or her inaccuracy, Luxa did not know. “We have mere seconds.”

Luxa swallowed and wheeled around to Boots, scooping her up, and placing her on Temp’s back. “Get you gone,” she ordered, her voice desperate. “Run like the river. You must return her to Regalia. You must!”

“On my life, I swear it, on my life,” Temp said, just as the gnawers reached the cavern.

“Well, well, well, what a spread we have here!” She heard one leer. “The queen, the warrior’s pup sister, and, I hardly believe my eyes, dear Twitchtip! To what do we owe the pleasure? Actually, I don’t care.” He snarled and bounded forward. Luxa vaulted onto Aurora’s back, screaming, “Get you gone!” to Temp, who scurried off into one of the tunnels, the little pinprick of light from Boots’ flashlight going with them. If she had thought about it, she would have kept it.

“Aurora, I am blind,” She hissed as they spun through the air.

“Then you will have to listen carefully. Unsheath your sword,” her bond replied, “and swipe it over my left shoulder when I say.”

Luxa did as she was told, and when her bond suddenly dove and shouted “Now!” Luxa swung as fast as she could. She met something solid, something that began to gurgle with the contact.

“You found his throat,” Aurora reported with approval. “Again, over my right shoulder. Ready… now!”

Luxa swung again, this time meeting only air. Aurora jerked up suddenly, and Luxa was tossed from side to side as her flier slashed out with her claws, apparently trying to compensate from her miss. Luxa could hear the other gnawers locked in a battle with Twitchtip, who, judging from the sounds, was holding her own decently for someone in her condition. But then, suddenly, she heard the gnawer shriek, and Aurora dove and cried out, “Right shoulder _now_!”

Luxa drove her sword over Aurora’s shoulder, deep into some part of a gnawer. The rat gave a mighty twist with a scream, which allowed Luxa to wrench her sword out with relative ease, but in the next moment, she felt her face erupt in brilliant pain. She recoiled, her hand flying to the side of her face, where she found a deep slash.

“Luxa!” She heard Twitchtip cry out between snarls and gnashing teeth, “You must leave! We cannot defeat all of them. There are more on their way, no doubt. I can hold them off!”

“I am not leaving you,” Luxa barked back through the darkness, taking her hand away from her torn face.

“You—must,” hissed Twitchtip. “You gave me a little time just now. Allow me to do the same! Run like the river!”

Luxa hesitated for a moment, a moment they didn’t have to spare. “Okay,” she whispered. Aurora banked hard, toward what Luxa assumed was the mouth of one of the smaller tunnels. They landed and Luxa placed a hand on Aurora’s back for guidance as the two hopped into it. “It widens in a matter of yards into a larger tunnel,” Aurora reassured. “We will be able to fly.”

Luxa stumbled along blindly, her blood on fire, her stomach twisting in uncertainty at every step she took. She hadn’t felt so helpless since Henry’s betrayal. But within a minute, Aurora told her she could fly, and Luxa clambered onto her back.

For a few minutes there was no sound but the flapping of Aurora’s wings and Luxa’s heavy breathing.

She felt a guilt she had never known for leaving Twitchtip, even though she also knew they had no other choice. Aurora could not carry a full grown rat and herself, and Luxa would not have been able to fight on the ground—she could hardly fight in the air—but she felt overwhelmingly contrite, regardless.

Her face throbbed where she had been clawed from her temple to her chin. She unsheathed her sword and did her best to cut a strip of fabric from her shirt, and pressed it against the wound.

Aurora took turn after turn until Luxa could hear something trickling. “It is a small stream that runs from a small crack in the wall, but it will be good for drinking,” Aurora explained as they coasted in for a landing. Aurora guided Luxa to the water, where she drank her fill and washed off her scratch the best she could.

“I am sorry I could not get you out of reach in time,” Aurora murmured. “He had just tackled Twitchtip and I knew we could save her, but he twisted so fast.”

“Do not fault yourself,” Luxa replied as she reached down and rinsed her makeshift bandage, before wringing it and returning it to her still-bleeding temple. “The weakling did not even manage to pierce through my cheek.”

Aurora laughed. “I would suggest we go back and allow him to finish the job, but I believe you managed to kill him.”

“Ah, what a shame. Tell me, how have you known where to go?”

“I have not. I have been taking every turn based on what little I could echolocate down the paths. I know we took the different path from the one Temp to begin with, however.”

Luxa nodded. They would just have to hope Temp found a way out. If Gregor managed to take down the Bane, he deserved to have his little sister to come back to. But she could not allow herself to dwell on any of it for too long. Not Gregor and Ares, not Mareth, Howard, Andromeda, nor Temp or Boots or Twitchtip. She could dwell all she liked as soon as she was out of the maze.

“Can you go further, Aurora?”

“Yes. I will fly until we are free from this place, if I must.”

They mounted up, and Luxa did not know how much time passed. Eventually, once she was sure her bleeding had stopped, she pressed the good side of her face into Aurora’s neck and fell asleep.

She woke up not long after to hear they had landed next to a river. “I have caught fish. You will have to eat it raw, but it is better than nothing.” That it certainly was. Luxa’s stomach burned cold with hunger, and when Aurora placed a fish in her hands, she tore into it without question. Sitting in the pitch black darkness, which was silent other than the babbling river, gulping down raw meat, she hardly felt human. It made her wish she was learning to echolocate with Gregor... but no, enduring Ripred's insults could hardly be worth it.

With food and water in her stomach, she felt remarkably better, and more importantly, she felt real hope for the first time since they were in the Tankard. “Sleep, Aurora,” Luxa urged. “I will wake you if I hear a thing.”

Aurora tried to object, but the flier was clearly exhausted, and she drifted off almost immediately. Luxa’s mind turned back to the other members of her party, wondering if they had lived or died, and this time, she could not distract herself with her own needs. Gregor and Ares would have found the Bane. Could they have taken him down? Gregor was, after all, only an eleven-year-old with a few days of sword training. And Ares was a remarkable flier, but he could be reckless in battle. She wondered where Temp and Boots were. Maybe they had had a clearer shot out of the Labyrinth than she and Aurora, but the thought of a baby and a crawler fending for themselves in a maze full of rats made her feel sick with worry. She turned her thoughts instead to Howard, Mareth, and Andromeda. Twitchtip had explained their situation while they had been walking. She hoped their raft had held up and that Mareth had made it back to Regalia safely. Howard had shown a real knack for both seafaring and first aid, so she was more confident in their fate. Oh, how wrong she had been about his character. She knew that if she made it back to Regalia, she would view him in an entirely new light.

 _If she made it back to Regalia._ Would they crown a new monarch? She imagined the crown would fall to Nerissa, which Luxa knew would make her cousin miserable. Or, it would fall to Vikus and Solovet, and though they were more qualified, she could not imagine the two of them trying to rule together. Not when they differed from each other on every policy that dealt with anything outside of the human cities.

Luxa pressed a hand to her forehead. Under the weight of her thoughts, she could feel the darkness threatening to swallow her up once more.

After a few hours had passed, she woke Aurora up. The river was much bigger than the stream they had encountered earlier, and Aurora felt confident that if they followed it downstream, they would leave the Labyrinth. So Luxa climbed onto her bond’s back, and they were off once more.

“I am sorry I have been about as capable as an infant these past few days,” Luxa said as they soared over the river.

“I am more than happy to be your eyes when I need be. Although, next time, I think we should try to ask Gregor for a waterproof light stick,” Aurora purred.

Luxa laughed. “I will make sure to mention that.” If they ever saw each other again.

“Now, you should rest. I will alert you if I see anything of interest.”

Luxa didn’t have to be told twice. She reclined on the flier and found herself nodding off once more.

“Luxa. I think you should see this.”

The Underlander opened her eyes, sat up, and almost cried with relief.

Aurora had stopped on a cliff overlooking a vast network of vines, a glow emanating faintly from the forest floor. The jungle. They had made it. She could see again.

“I do not know the way to Regalia from here,” Aurora admitted. “But we are free from the maze. And you are free from the dark.”

Luxa leaned over and wrapped her arms around her bond. “Thank you for getting us out.” Then, she sat up. “Now, let us go home.”

  
  



End file.
